IYA2009 Updates

Europlanetarium in Genk, Belgium, has done something particularly special. Noting that there are about 55 constellations visible from the northern hemisphere and there are exactly 44 cities/communities in the province of Limburg, Belgium, they asked every area to "adopt" their own constellation. The aim was to place the province of Limburg in between the stars! Every city/community in Limburg gladly accepted and all 44 now have their own constellation in the sky.

The idea was to create a bond between the citizens of Limburg and the stars in the sky, to encourage them to gaze up and be amazed by the wonders of our night sky. For each constellation information was included about the mythology behind it as well as details of a special astronomical object that can be found within the boundaries of the constellation.

Adopting a constellation and communicating it to residents was just the first step. Some communities are planning more, and several additional special projects are already on the way.

In support of IYA2009, the Royal College Astronomical Society has organised an innovative programme called "40 years of Space Age & Beyond". This is the largest school-based IYA2009 programme in Sri Lanka and it consists of a workshop, science fiction competition and an exhibition of Apollo 11 Moon rocks which will be held from 8 to 9 December 2009.

Royal College Astronomical Society (RCAS) has a prestigious history of more than 40 years. The society has inspired many students to pursuit science as a career and some have become professional astronomers.

The workshop is the long running annual project of RCAS and a highly-anticipated event in the local astronomy community. This year, it will look back over 40 years of space programmes and a peer ahead with future missions to space and eventual colonisation.

Each year the workshop enjoys the participation of students and teachers from 50 schools around the country. This year participants will get the opportunity to explore future Moon colonisation ideas by being part of an activity to construct Moon colonies. For more information, please visit: http://rcas.lakdiva.net/fyosa/workshop.html

The RCAS will be running an exhibition and a science fiction competition along with the workshop as well. The moonstones from Apollo 11 mission which were gifted to Sri Lanka by the former US President Richard Nixon will be on display for two days. This is a rare opportunity to witness the history as these moonstones are rarely on public display. There will be some unforgettable photographs from Apollo 11 displayed at the exhibition along with the moonstones. Details are available here: http://rcas.lakdiva.net/fyosa/exhibition.html

The science fiction competition is another annual project of the society, which is open to all students around the country. It is launched with the purpose of exploring vivid imaginations of young minds. The competition is underway and the award ceremony will take place along with the workshop. More information: http://rcas.lakdiva.net/fyosa/sf_competition.html

As a part of IYA2009, Pakistan fully embraced World Space Week during 5-10 October. Many activities pertaining to space awareness were carried out during the week. Students and teachers from various schools participated fully in the entire event. For details please visit: http://www.suparco.gov.pk/pages/wsw.asp?wswlinkid=2

Talented artist and author Fiami has been interviewed for a Swiss Italian channel. His comic "The Lives of Galileo" shows that the history of science is about sharing knowledge across the Earth over the centuries. The sky and astronomy have no owners; we belong to the sky and not the other way around. "The Lives of Galileo" shows this in a humorous yet educational way.

These feature a monthly vodcast "Pulse of the Live! Universe" devoted to most important astronomical news. There are almost no Russian speaking analogues to this available on the internet. The YouTube channel is currently averaging 1200 visits per day, impressive statistics which demonstrate the potential in digital media.

BLAST!, a spectacular and suspenseful story of space exploration and IYA2009 Special project, is now available on DVD in a double disc set, specially designed for the educational and institutional markets.

Five-time Emmy winner Paul Devlin follows his brother Mark Devlin, PhD to five continents, from the Arctic to the Antarctic to launch a revolutionary new telescope on a NASA high altitude balloon to reveal a hidden Universe. From catastrophic failure to transcendent triumph, their adventure reveals the real life of scientists.

Send a message to VenusThe Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is enhancing people's interest in space and the Earth by holding a message campaign. People are invited to send messages that will be printed in fine letters on an aluminium plate and placed aboard the Venus Climate Orbiter AKATSUKI. Find out how to register your message by visiting http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/596/

Leonid meteor shower expected to wow stargazers on 17 NovemberThe annual Leonid meteor shower will be peaking in the hours before dawn on 17 November. Most observers from dark locations away from light pollution hope to see a meteor every few minutes during this peak of activity. See http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/603/ for more.

IYA2009 supporters urged to sign Welsh dark skies petitionUnlike most of the UK, Wales still has some areas free from light pollution, where the stars can be seen in all their glory. Members of Cardiff Astronomical Society have been working hard to protect these areas, by holding an exhibition at the Senedd of the Welsh Assembly, and presenting a seminar for Assembly Members with world-renowned speakers. They are currently organising a petition to the Welsh Assembly to bring attention to the dangers of light pollution and the need for clear guidelines. If you would like to help, please visit http://tinyurl.com/cfds-petition and sign the petition. You do not need to reside in the UK to sign. Registration is necessary but e-mail addresses are only used for logging on, and will not be disclosed. The Assembly fully adheres to data protection requirements and is statutorily bound to debate all petitions.

Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2010 - Third Announcement - UpdatedThe SOC has been very pleased with the response to attend and present papers at CAP2010 and is now in the process of selecting oral presentations and organising sessions. However, we have decided to extend the deadline as we have heard from a number of people that the timing was not optimum and they would like to submit in November. The deadline for abstract submission has now been extended to December 4th. This also applies to the special rate for on-site hotel accommodation. For existing registrants, please ensure that you have selected your accommodation as soon as possible to make sure that you have a booking. Due to the annual Cape Town cycle tour, the Ritz hotel no longer has rooms available for the night of the 14th March 2010. We have successfully negotiated the same rates with the Cape Manor Hotel, which is 3 blocks away from the Ritz hotel, until the 15th March 2010. Bookings are being made on a first-come, first served basis. Please book your accommodation as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.More info: http://www.communicatingastronomy.org/cap2010/

Western Connecticut IYA2009 enthusiasts unveil impressive scale Solar SystemOn 14 November a magnificent "true scale" model Solar System was being installed. It will be spread across over 6 miles of New Milford, Connecticut as part of local IYA2009 celebrations. The scale is set by a six foot diameter Sun that is on the Observatory grounds, and each object is on public property (most on school grounds), out to a distance of over 6 miles where the Oort Cloud and the "gateway to the Galaxy" will reside. Each object is cast in bronze, and sits atop a 5 foot stainless steel pyramid. For more, see: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/600/

Summary of the International Conference of Young Astronomers 2009The International Conference of Young Astronomers (ICYA2009) took place in Krakow, Poland between 7 - 13 September. The conference gathered almost 150 young scientists, researchers and advanced amateur astronomers from 30 countries and five continents. The summary is online: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/599/

NASA's Great Observatories celebrate International Year of Astronomy 2009A never-before-seen view of the turbulent heart of our Milky Way galaxy is being unveiled by NASA on 10 November. This event will commemorate the 400 years since Galileo first turned his telescope to the heavens in 1609. In celebration of this International Year of Astronomy 2009, NASA is releasing images of the galactic centre region as seen by its Great Observatories to more than 150 planetariums, museums, nature centres, libraries, and schools across the country. Learn more here: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/598/

Radio telescopes around the world ready for unprecedented observation projectThirty-five radio telescopes around the world will conduct an unprecedented continuous 24-hour observation of nearly 250 remote quasars this week. The collection of quasars, whose positions in the sky are precisely known, forms the core (or defining sources) of a grid of celestial landmarks called the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF2), which was officially recognized as the fundamental reference system for astronomy by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in August 2009. The ICRF2 has 295 defining sources that are spread evenly over the sky and out of which 243 will be observed. See more: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/597/

"Sounds of the Stars" enchant at German IYA2009 concertOne of the cultural highlights of IYA2009 in Germany has been a concert by the Bochum Symphonic Orchestra at the largest auditorium of Bochum University on 6 November. Not only was the music astronomy-themed, the whole performance was also sumptuously illustrated by space vistas panning over a giant projection screen. Read more: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/595/

IYA2009 news from CongoThe African nation of Congo has been working hard to popularise astronomy. Next year many African countries will celebrate their 50th birthday after independence. There will be large festivals in August 2010. In Congo, plans are being developed to take this opportunity to speak to a wide audience about science in general and astronomy in particular. See a preview here: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/594/

IYA2009 Special project: "Millions of Earths" sheds light on exoplanetsExoplanet hunters are specialists working at the frontier of science. A new documentary film called "Millions of Earths" follows them in their exciting research, sharing their dreams and discoveries. The film visits observatories from Chile to Germany, and talks with scientists from all over the world. It weaves threads together into a story to captivate and educate. "Millions of Earths" is a Beta Prod production. See their website here: http://www.betaprod.fr/spip.php?page=sommaire-EN

Irish Science Week opens with astronomy exhibitionThe exhibition "Over us All is the SElfsame Sky" (OASES) opened at 11:00 am on Monday 9 November in the Rotunda Gallery, St Patrick's Trian, Armagh with a performance of music, poetry and dance by pupils from Mount St. Catherine's Primary School, Armagh and the Armagh Rhymers. The launch coincides with the beginning of the science week in Ireland. See more here: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/592/

Galileo lecture available to watch onlineProfessor William Shea, Galileo's Chair from the University of Padua, recently gave a talk called "The New World of Galileo" to mark IYA2009. The presentation can be seen online. View it here: http://www2.geolsoc.org.uk/presentations/bh091026

New initiative seeks to send astronomy books to developing nationsThere are many astronomical societies in developing countries run by amateur astronomers. They organise many events throughout the year, and participation is immense. However the lack of resources is not conducive to long-term programmes. To overcome this difficulty, "Astro Book Drive" works on getting spare books from wealthy countries across to developing nations. See how to get involved by visiting http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/590/

Interferometry super-session to be held for IYA2009The International VLBI Service for geodesy and astrometry (IVS) is organising an ambitious event in the framework of IYA2009. The IVS runs a worldwide network of radio telescopes dedicated to monitoring the Earth's rotation and establishing celestial and terrestrial reference frames. The VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) technique connects all antennas together, creating the equivalent of an Earth-size radio telescope which allows one to map the targets (extragalactic radio sources) with milliarcsecond angular resolution and measure their astrometric positions to about 0.1 milliarcsecond or even better. On 18-19 November 2009, the IVS will run a 24-hour "super-session" as an IYA2009 event. Learn more here: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/updates/589/

It's almost 2010. What will we all do when there are no more news round-ups? Weep freely, most likely.

Best make the most of them while we still can, then. The US's Museum of Science & Technology is holding astronomy-themed art contests for children in the area, says cnylink. There will be lots of hands-on activities, and even a competition to create a logo and slogan for IYA2009. Hang on, we already have those. Maybe someone should tell the children that and CANCEL their fun.

SpaceRef.com says that the Pope has been praising IYA2009 in an event attended by high-profile astronomers, including the European Southern Observatory's Director General. The Pope said ""The International Year of Astronomy is meant not least to recapture for people throughout our world the extraordinary wonder and amazement which characterised the great age of discovery in the sixteenth century." The news round-ups are all for recapturing people, although the Pope did not highlight this fact.

More Vatican-related IYA2009 news comes from Syracuse.com, which has posted an interview with the one, the only, the crowd-pleasing Brother Guy Consolmagno. You may know him from such blogs as the Cosmic Diary.

The Leonid meteor shower is almost upon us, so let's visit AccuWeather.com for some information. They talk about IYA2009, so they deserve the immense publicity boost that comes from a round-up mention. To spot the shooting stars, head out before dawn on 17 November, when they'll be at their peak. A common question is "where should I look?" The answer is UP. Visit the official IYA2009 site for even more useful snippets of information.

To Tunisia Online News, next. Tunis planetarium is marking IYA2009 with a programme under the theme of galaxies. Astronomical observations are front and centre. They've also hosted a conference titled "the scientific influence of Kairouan and its contribution to Mediterranean civilization".

One more to finish with. The digital newspaper Escrambray has run a story about UNESCO recognising the contributions of Cuban science. In particular their IYA2009 activities were applauded. That was a sensible one to end on, wasn't it?

Until next week, remember to check local sources for IYA2009 news in your own languages. If that sounds like an order, it's because it is.

The annual Leonid meteor shower will be peaking in the hours before dawn on 17 November. Most observers from dark locations away from light pollution hope to see a meteor every few minutes during this peak of activity.

Earlier in the year estimates were given of over 500 shooting stars per hour, but this is now thought to be overly optimistic. Still, current predictions indicate that it will be a good year to see the Leonids, especially as the Moon will not be visible, helping to preserve dark skies so that fainter shooting stars are still visible.

Finding a dark site will help observers make the most of this spectacle. No special equipment is necessary - simply sit back and look up, in a generally easterly direction. Be sure to wrap up warm and let others know where you will be. Ideally, go meteor watching with a group of like-minded friends.

Unlike most of the UK, Wales still has some areas free from light pollution, where the stars can be seen in all their glory. Members of Cardiff Astronomical Society have been working hard to protect these areas, by holding an exhibition at the Senedd of the Welsh Assembly, and presenting a seminar for Assembly Members with world-renowned speakers.

They are currently organising a petition to the Welsh Assembly to bring attention to the dangers of light pollution and the need for clear guidelines. Support has already been received from Professor Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal and the President of the Royal Society, and Professor John Brown, Astronomer for Scotland.

If you would like to help, please visit http://tinyurl.com/cfds-petitionand sign the petition. You do not need to reside in the UK to sign. Registration is necessary but e-mail addresses are only used for logging on, and will not be disclosed. The Assembly fully adheres to data protection requirements and is statutorily bound to debate all petitions.